BRUSSELS, Feb 8, 2012 (IPS) - European leaders have mapped out a bold agenda ahead of the Rio summit, vowing to transform development aid, help provide renewable electricity to the world's neediest people, and bulk up the United Nations environment body.

The European Union's `Agenda for Change' proposal calls for pumping foreign aid into sustainable growth and energy access, while European Union officials have also floated the idea of transforming the U.N. Environmental Programme into an agency with expanded influence and greater power to promote research and development.

Janez Potočnik, the EU environment commissioner, on Tuesday reaffirmed the 27-nation block's pledge to provide the equivalent of 0.7 percent of gross national income (GNI) for aid to the world's poorest countries, while urging that there be a focus on sustainable growth.

"The potential for investment and gains are massive compared to official development assistance," he said in a speech. "But at the same time the poorest countries need help, to make this promise good.